Subleasee caused an eviction! Help!

[Price138]

I moved out of my apartment in October because I was never there. To avoid breaking the one year lease, I sublet the apartment for the remaining 5 months.

Because my lease didn't really include "subleasing", the landlord agreed to let her sign on as a cotenant.
So it was my old roommate and her.

I know that was my mistake.

Now there is only one month left of the lease and I called the landlord to check if everything was okay, because I could not get ahold of the girl who I let my apartment to.

And I knew a month and a half ago, my old roommate moved out and the girl moved someone else in.
I have not signed ANY papers for her. So I dont know if she is valid.

Apparently she hasn't paid rent for January and now has us under an Unlawful Detainer. An eviction!

I just got my papers in the mail today.

Also while talking to the landlord, she told me that the girl has been avoiding her. As well as not answering my calls.

Here's the tricky part. I had a cosigner on the lease, my father. When she signed on as cotenant, she also had a cosigner, her father.

When she signed on, her father refused to give me a deposit, in any amount, just in case the girl did anything to the place. I was like, okay fine, but whatever she does, you will pay for, and we agreed on that.

Again, my mistake. I should have gotten something, anything in writing from him.

So, on the lease, there is me, my father, my old roommate, the girl, the girls father and most likely another girl.

Now, she has us under an eviction and I do not want that on my record.

It is too late to pay the rent. Papers have been filed.

I still cannot get ahold of her and am afraid I will definitely lose my deposit because of this, and I am afraid I will not be able to get the deposit from her father either.

My father has been trying to get ahold of her father for days to see if he knew about this too.

Apparently, the management company is NOT sueing the cosigners, my father and hers, just the actual tenants.

I dont want this on my record and I want my deposit.

What is the BEST legal way to go about this?
Or am I just out of luck?

 

[mike]

I moved out of my apartment in October because I was never there. To avoid breaking the one year lease, I sublet the apartment for the remaining 5 months.

Because my lease didn't really include "subleasing", the landlord agreed to let her sign on as a cotenant.
So it was my old roommate and her.

I know that was my mistake.

Now there is only one month left of the lease and I called the landlord to check if everything was okay, because I could not get ahold of the girl who I let my apartment to.

And I knew a month and a half ago, my old roommate moved out and the girl moved someone else in.
I have not signed ANY papers for her. So I dont know if she is valid.

Apparently she hasn't paid rent for January and now has us under an Unlawful Detainer. An eviction!

I just got my papers in the mail today.

Also while talking to the landlord, she told me that the girl has been avoiding her. As well as not answering my calls.

Here's the tricky part. I had a cosigner on the lease, my father. When she signed on as cotenant, she also had a cosigner, her father.

When she signed on, her father refused to give me a deposit, in any amount, just in case the girl did anything to the place. I was like, okay fine, but whatever she does, you will pay for, and we agreed on that.

Again, my mistake. I should have gotten something, anything in writing from him.

So, on the lease, there is me, my father, my old roommate, the girl, the girls father and most likely another girl.

Now, she has us under an eviction and I do not want that on my record.

It is too late to pay the rent. Papers have been filed.

I still cannot get ahold of her and am afraid I will definitely lose my deposit because of this, and I am afraid I will not be able to get the deposit from her father either.

My father has been trying to get ahold of her father for days to see if he knew about this too.

Apparently, the management company is NOT sueing the cosigners, my father and hers, just the actual tenants.

I dont want this on my record and I want my deposit.

What is the BEST legal way to go about this?
Or am I just out of luck?

You will not have anything "on your record." The only thing that may happen is that a case is filed in court (is it?) and it is highly unlikely anyone will ever discover this or look for it. If you want to work out something with the landlord, now is the time. If you lose a court case (likely) then you will be responsible for paying for the landlord's costs to enforce the lease. You may have to pay this entire amount and lose your security deposit -- for now.

But this doesn't mean that you cannot sue the girl, her father and this other girl for what they owe on the lease. You should probably send them a certified letter immediately to this effect, stating that as a result of their defaults of rent additional costs will be imposed upon you and the other tenants and cosigners by the landlord. In an attempt to mitigate the damages you will be paying $X and that they are responsible for a certain portion. If they do not pay the amount within X days then you will be forced to take legal action where you will also seek to recover your additional costs, expenses and damages due to their willful breach of the lease agreement and subsequent attempts to avoid dealing with this breach.

See what shakes. There isn't an easy answer unfortunately but I think everything will eventually turn out fine for you. Good luck.